Boots off. Yes, it’s a boots off for Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) mujahideen somewhere in Maguindanao. It means “peacetime.” It was great to see the fighters so relaxed, smile on their faces and not as worried as they were in times of war. And it’s a rare moment to see these battle-weary fighter smiling. We asked several fighters if how they feel about the recent signing of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro, their common answer: HAPPY.
North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza and Aleosan Mayor Loreto Cabaya explain the differences between the GPH-MILF Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in Malacanan Palace on October 15, 2012, and the 2008 Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) whose scheduled signing on August 5, 2008 was stopped when the Supreme Court a day earlier, granted the petition filed by the North Cotabato government for a temporary restraining order.
I’m so pleased to have witnessed this historic signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro at tha Malacañan Palace on October 15,2012. As a stakeholder, I hope that this will put an end to the decades-old of conflict and will pave way to the return of thousands of internally displaced persons or bakwit across Mindanao.
Hundreds of Muslims and peace advocates coming from Mindanao as well as from Metro Manila have gathered at Mendiola on Sunday afternoon for peace rally on the eve of the signing of the Framework Agreement between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that will be held at the Malacanang Palace.
PIKIT, North Cotabato(MindaNews/25 August) – Most villagers in a refugee camp here are no longer strangers to evacuation.
They have “mastered” the art of evacuation even if tensions are still brewing, knowing where to go for temporary shelter to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Barangay Batulawan here has become a popular refugee center for displaced villagers, as the amenities of evacuation centers built during the previous wars remain standing and ready to be used.
But if the evacuees would have their way, they want to settle peacefully in their villages since life in the evacuation centers are really difficult. Read More »
At first look, you would assume that there’s another bombing incident in Mindanao in the regions’ section of GMA News Online. But actually, the upper headline is just the sames as the previous one. Editors could have simply marked it as update– as they always do. Otherwise, the public would assume that there was a separate bomb attack in Mindanao.
The news headline at GMA News’ website this morning struck me because it’s headline — i cannot remember the exact line — says that a bomb exlploded at a Catholic church in Cotabato City. But as I went throught the entire article, the blast went off across the cathedral. The explosion killed four persons dead while 27 others were also injured. Read More »
Photos: AKP Images / Keith Bacongco | Music: Kapayapaan by Tropical Depression
DATU PIANG, Maguindanao – What would have taken only a few minutes to negotiate the 14-kilometer stretch from the Cotabato-General Santos highway to Datu Piang in Maguindanao took more than an hour as thousands ofevacuees and residents lined the road chanting “MOA-AD,” raising messages written down on manila paper, sack and plywood, demanding government to “respect, implement, sign and support” the MOA-AD (Froilan Gallardo / Mindanews) . read more
Boots off. Yes, it’s a boots off for Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) mujahideen somewhere in Maguindanao. It means “peacetime.” It was great to see the fighters so relaxed, smile on their faces and not as worried as they were in times of war. And it’s a rare moment to see these battle-weary fighter smiling. We asked several fighters if how they feel about the recent signing of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro, their common answer: HAPPY.
